Reflections on Psalm 23 Part 5

In the previous verse, we were encouraged by the fact that when hard times come the Lord is with us. This verse continues on the theme that in life there will be times when we are under attack. I am encouraged by the honesty of God’s word it does not cover up the fact that at times living with Jesus will have its challenges.  It is interesting to note that in the middle ages people built monasteries to isolate them from problems and attacks of being a Christian. Psalm 23:5 says: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows”. NLT says: “You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You welcome me as a guest anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings”. The psalmist did not fear in the trial because he knew that the Lord was with him, this verse shows the reward of his actions.  It is important to note that the Lord does not wait for the trial to be over before he rewards us. Let us now look at how the Lord rewards us, firstly, He prepares a table/ feast for us.  In the bible, a feast represented a time of great honour, feasts were not a casual event they were given to bestow great honour on the guest of the feast. A good example of this in the story of the prodigal son, the father made a great feast to celebrate the return of his son. When the son came home he was not punished for his wrong behaviour but was celebrated that he was still alive. This something that we fail to see God wants to honour us when we stand in the hard times. There is another important part of the feast was the guest was rewarded openly, all the people attending supported the celebration of the guest.  Another practice of honouring the guest was his head was anointed with oil. It is important to realise that God’s hand on your life is visible to others. While anointing may seem a strange custom to us it was part of the declaration that the guest was honoured. It cannot be overstated that when we make Jesus Lord of our lives it brings great pleasure to our heavenly Father. In the gospels, we read that Jesus reprimanded the Pharisees for not anointing Him with oil when He arrived as their guest to the feast. The final thing that the psalmist declares is that your cup overflows with blessings. God is such a rewarder and His reward is not small but big. The danger we face is at times we can focus on the darkness of the trial that we fail to see that God is blessing us in a significant way. If we have a cup that is overflowing then the contents of the cup will be always fresh and that is so true with the Lord, our blessings are not only bountiful but fresh. I am so glad that the Lord is my shepherd because it does not matter the circumstances I find myself in my shepherd is always with me.